DSCC Money: What is the effect of today's announcements?
Submitted by oldwellblue on Wed, 01/06/2010 - 4:57pm
From Rob Christensen’s article in November regarding the DSCC’s influence in Senate races:
“The Etheridge decision underscores the importance of the national parties in Senate races. In some ways, the DSCC has become a kingmaker in Senate politics. Their decision to get behind state Sen. Kay Hagan last year, spending $11.5 million on her behalf, was critical in her defeat of Republican Sen. Elizabeth Dole.”
I think the announcements today from Sens. Dodd and Dorgan may put a strain on the DSCC's ability to pump $11 to $12 million in support of a single candidate. It looks like they will need to spend at least some money in Connecticut and North Dakota may be as difficult as North Carolina. If the DSCC gets behind a contender like Ed Schultz (link) then they are likely to spend heavily to support him.
A three-way race in NC between Marshall, Cunningham, and Lewis could strain their own individual funds and then they could be faced with less national money.
Coffers
You make a good point.
I know plenty of people, myself included, who are not giving anything to the DSCC this year because of the miserable performance of the Senate on healthcare. Progressives, in particular, are feeling sold-out by corporate Democrats, and I suspect it will come back to haunt the party in many ways. Maybe the DSCC will have all they need from contributors in the center, but that seems unlikely.
I'm not so worried about Connecticut ... it looks like there's a solid Democrat ready to carry on in Dodd's place. ND is a whole nother state. I personally would love for Ed Shultz to jump in. I've been listening to his show forever and I love the way he comes at issues. Even though he has no legislative experience, he would be a reliable vote for the regular people of this country.
Do good. Be nice. Have fun.
Disagree.
We'll probably concede ND (Schultz would have to make a big splash to get on their radar) and we won't have to spend any money in CT (since the seat is now safe dem). This is likely to be good news for whoever comes out of NC's Dem primary.
On the other point you make, the DSCC may be giving Cunningham fundraising support, but there's no evidence yet that they'll be spending money during the primary. There's no reason the primary would hurt their bank account otherwise.
I always wanted to be the avenging cowboy hero—that lone voice in the wilderness, fighting corruption and evil wherever I found it, and standing for freedom, truth and justice. - Bill Hicks
That letter from the DSCC is
That letter from the DSCC is sitting in my box waiting for me to send a check out. I don't know how much my little contribution matters but I guess I need to get it out if my progressive kinsmen are going to shy away. Gotta keep the center a the mix! :>)
I'm a moderate Democrat.
Do they usually spend during the primary?
I thought they usually withheld monetary support until the general election. As always, I could be wrong. I know that Cunningham had a very successful December in fundraising - do we know about Marshall and Lewis?
Not always
For example, the DSCC spent money in Montana's primary in 2006 and in Oregon's primary in 2008. Their candidate lost the former and won the latter.
Cunningham's take in Q4 can be seen as half empty or half full.
Half empty: he raised less than Hagan did in Q4 2007 and was expected to raise more since he had been making fundraising calls for over half a year.
Half full: he raised all of that money in less than a month, while dealing with Christmas and the holiday season, and raised more per day after declaring than Hagan did in 2007. And he's got more money on the way.
Marshall's spokesperson has said that their campaign is unimpressed with Cunningham's $320K haul, but that doesn't mean they raised more.
I always wanted to be the avenging cowboy hero—that lone voice in the wilderness, fighting corruption and evil wherever I found it, and standing for freedom, truth and justice. - Bill Hicks
Unimpressed Comment
seems like an odd thing & pointlessly negative thing to say unless they she did raise more. But given her bigger starting name recognition, I wouldn't be surprised if she did raise more. I hope she did raise more tho, and same goes for Ken, I hope for all 3 campaigns to be well funded enough to reach our entire state about why we need a democratic candidate to replace Burr.
But, Cunningham is getting the press
I went out to the store this morning and was listening to my regular local radio channel in my car when the news came on. Part of that was a blurp about Cal Cunningham raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for his campaign for U.S. Senate. There was no mention of Elaine or Ken in that newscast. So, regardless who raised the most or in what time period the money was raised, he seems to be using the media in a better way to keep his name out there.
Not so fast
I would be really surprised if the DSCC didn't see the Dorgan/Dodd decisions as a net gain, financially. The CT seat was going to cost big money, and now it's pretty near a lock for us. The ND seat is a lock for the GOP now that the Gov. is in, so they'll save money there.
Like Oliver says, my impression is that DSCC is helping Cunningham raise money, but isn't funding him directly. I would be very surprised if Marshall raised more than half of Cunningham's total, and I don't expect Lewis to crack $100k.